HAYWARD -- Cal State L.A.'s baseball team got another sensational pitching performance from
Bryan Conant on Sunday to complete a California Collegiate Athletic Association sweep over Cal State East Bay.
Conant tossed a four-hit shutout to lead the Golden Eagles to a 3-0 win over the Pioneers at Pioneer Field. Cal State L.A. (19-9, 14-6 CCAA) pulled into a tie for second place in the CCAA and ran its winning streak to seven games.
Conant, who went 8 2/3 innings in a masterful outing in his last start against Cal State Monterey Bay on Monday, was even better on Sunday. He allowed a pair of singles in the first inning, but picked off both runners at first base to get out of the inning unscathed. After allowing a double in the second inning, he retired the next 17 batters in a row before yielding a two-out walk in the seventh. The only other hit he gave up was a leadoff single in the ninth inning, but he retired the next three batters to complete the win.
It was Conant's second shutout of the season.
Conant's gem was especially important because Cal State L.A.'s offense struggled against Cal State East Bay starter Jacob Call, who matched Conant until the sixth inning when the Golden Eagles took the lead for good with a pair of runs.
Jesus Cuevas singled to lead off the inning and took second on a balk.
Dakota Hernandez delivered a run-scoring double to drive in Cuevas and later scored on a run-scoring single by
Trevor Meleski.
Cal State L.A. made it 3-0 in the seventh.
Trent Zaks walked, stole second, took third when
Ryan Welker reached on an error and scored on Cuevas' fielder's choice.
Seven Cal State L.A. hitters -- Zaks, Welker, Cuevas, Welker, Hernandez,
Kyle Peralta, Meleski and
Rodrigo Martinez - had one hit each.
Cal State L.A. pitching didn't allow a run over the last 24 innings of the series and gave up only one run over the final three games.
Cal State L.A. will return to action on Thursday with the opener of a four-game CCAA series at home against Chico State beginning at 6 p.m.